


I intend to love you

by yayhwan



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Coffee Shops, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-13 11:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18467818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yayhwan/pseuds/yayhwan
Summary: Cha Hakyeon works at Jellyfish Coffee, a small coffee shop just off campus which is frequented almost exclusively by students. One of those students is Lee Hongbin, a Film and Media Studies major who forgets lunch and dinner regularly while he's working.





	I intend to love you

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt: Coffee shop au where owner/uni student Hakyeon is the barista who notices that writer/uni student Hongbin is always working intensely on work at a window table. Hongbin doesn't eat as much when working so Hakyeon learns his favorite drinks/snacks and lowkey feeds Hongbin while he's working. What happens next is up to you!

If there’s anything Hakyeon might love more than dancing, it’s coffee shops. He loves the smell of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cakes and pastries. He loves the quiet hum of voices as people study at the small tables littered around the room. More than the big chains like Starbucks or A Twosome Place, he likes the coffee shops hidden in the busy streets of Seoul: the small ones you have to know about in order to find them. Most of all he likes watching the patrons at the coffee shop he works at; seeing a snippet of their lives, memorizing their names and orders and observing as they do homework or meet their friends here. Jellyfish Coffee’s a small coffee shop just off campus, frequented almost exclusively by students.

Hakyeon doesn’t especially like having to work part-time in order to be able to pay for his living expenses, but if he has to work part-time anyway, this is probably the best damn job to have. And if working here means he has to mop the floor again because someone accidentally tipped over their coffee, then so be it.

The same song has been stuck in his head since yesterday. It’s a ballad that’s almost like a lullaby. So he hums it to himself while cleaning the coffee off the floor. Once the floor’s clean – and as dry as he can get it with a towel –, he heads back behind the counter.

It’s quiet for a Saturday: there are just a few students sitting at different tables, studying by themselves. Although there’s one small group sitting together at one of the bigger tables. They barely discuss anything, but do share some of the snacks they bought when they ordered their first drinks from Hakyeon. He spots Taemin, another dance and choreography major like Hakyeon, among them.

A ring of the bell signals that another customer has just entered the shop. Some of the patrons look up, and so does Hakyeon. The guy who enters dresses like he looks average, but his face is everything _but_ average. He has big eyes, a strong jaw and short, black hair. He’s handsome (and that’s one hell of an understatement).

Hakyeon recognizes him. He’s one of the people that return to this coffee shop regularly. He generally only orders black coffee and gets to work at a table by the window, which looks down on the busy streets below. He remembers the dimples that appear when he smiles. He wishes the guy would smile more.

Dimples walks up to the counter, still texting someone on his phone. Hakyeon smiles his signature smile. The guy seems taken aback by that when he looks up.

“Afternoon!” Hakyeon greets cheerfully.

“Hi, uh… one black coffee, please?”

“Coming right up.”

Hakyeon gets to work while Dimples takes a seat at his usual table. He takes out his laptop, a lined notebook, a pen and a couple of books.

Black coffee doesn’t take too long to make. Once it’s done, Hakyeon brings it over. With a quiet “enjoy”, he leaves Dimples to his devices.

The day crawls by slowly. Because the shop is so small, Hakyeon is the only employee working this day. That means there isn’t a designated time when he can take a break: he just has to wait for a lull and take advantage of that when it comes along.

Dimples returns to the counter twice to get a refill, but he doesn’t order anything else.

Hakyeon tries to remember the last time that Dimples actually got something to eat here. He spends entire days here; sometimes he would leave at 10 in the evening, just to return the next day at 8 am to continue his work. Did Dimples even eat at all while studying?

One time, Dimples came to the coffee shop with a friend. They got some of the banana bread together, and Hakyeon is pretty sure that Dimples liked it. And he’s already been here for a couple of hours. He hasn’t eaten anything… Should he do something about that? He can’t really force Dimples to pay for food he doesn’t order.

Still, he decides to ring up a slice of banana bread and brings it over to Dimples’ table.

Hakyeon’s already put it down and started walking back when Dimples says: “Excuse me? I didn’t order this.”

“I know. It’s on the house.”

Dimples watches him for a couple of seconds, his eyebrows pulled together in a frown. “Uh, okay… why?”

“You haven’t eaten anything for the past few hours.” Hakyeon explains, suddenly feeling very insecure about his decision to buy food for his patron.

The guy looks at his laptop to check the time. His eyes widen slightly. He turns back to face Hakyeon with a small smile and the dimples appear. (Hakyeon’s heart rate increases). “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Hakyeon smiles back before disappearing behind his counter. He focuses on scrubbing some stains off the display window when he feels Dimples’ eyes on him. Hakyeon breathes out in relief when Dimples turns back to his laptop to continue working. He breaks a piece of banana bread off occasionally and eats. At least it’s something, Hakyeon thinks to himself.

It’s 8 o’clock when Dimples packs his things and leaves the coffee shop with a quiet “bye” to Hakyeon. The next day, at around 9:30 am, he shows up again and takes his seat at the window.

Around lunch time, Hakyeon brings him a sandwich. The barista gets the same look of confusion as he got the day before. He just smiles and waves away Dimples’ objections to the free food. That day, Dimples stays longer.

When it nears dinnertime, Hakyeon heats up some soup for him. He carries that and a different sandwich over to Dimples’ table. After he returns to his counter, he makes the same thing for himself.

It’s 10 pm when he and Dimples are the only people left in the coffee shop. Hakyeon walks over to Dimples for the third time that day. This time, it’s to say: “Hi, sorry to bother, but I have to close shop.”

“Oh shit. It’s 10 o’clock already?” Dimples checks the time and jumps up, closing his laptop quickly. “Sorry.” Even his awkward smile causes his dimples to surface.

Hakyeon’s eyes linger on Dimples’ smile a little longer than he’d like to admit before he meets Dimples’ gaze. “It’s no problem.”

Dimples looks at him. He takes a breath and Hakyeon waits for him to speak, but he doesn’t. Instead he just mumbles another “sorry” and turns to his bag. He packs his laptop and books before hastily exiting the shop.

 

On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Hakyeon doesn’t have time to work at the coffee shop. His day is spent going to classes and, if he has a performance coming up, practicing in the evening. And there generally is a performance coming up. Sometimes he has a couple of hours free to hang out with his friends, but he has a surprisingly small amount of time left with everything he does. They know he loves them, and they know he’s busy trying to keep his grades up, dancing his heart out and working to pay for his education.

Sanghyuk scoots closer and leans over to him during his afternoon class on Monday: “Hyung, give me your notes.”

“Ssh.” Hakyeon hushes him, pushing Sanghyuk’s chair away with his foot in order to get some space between them.

“C’mon, hyung. I didn’t do the homework.”

“That’s your own stupid fault.”

“ _Hyung_.”

“ _Fine_.” He pushes his notes to the younger student. “Just shut up, I’m trying to pay attention here.”

“I love you and I’m forever in your debt.” Sanghyuk whispers to him before he quickly starts reading Hakyeon’s answers to the professor’s questions from last week.

“Damn right you are.” Hakyeon says while Sanghyuk is busy copying his notes down as if they’re his own.

After class, they walk to the Performing Arts building’s annex, where all the practice rooms are. Hakyeon had promised Sanghyuk to help him with a choreography for Professor Kim’s class. She wants her students to strive for perfection, and that means Sanghyuk is really nervous about his performance.

They spend two hours tweaking Sanghyuk’s choreography before the boy has to head out. He and his boyfriend have dinner plans together. Hakyeon stays behind to work on some of his own performances. He hasn’t been able to practice as much as he would like lately. His _History of Cultural Dance_ professor made him write so many essays that he’s been glued to his laptop whenever he has time to spare. He has another one due Friday and is dreading the writing process already, though he hasn’t even started.

After three more hours of practicing, Hakyeon is lying on the floor of the practice room. He’s staring at the ugly ceiling and wonders how many performing arts students have been exactly here: breathless, stressed and hungry.

It takes him a couple of minutes to find the motivation to get up. It’s only when the wooden floor starts pressing into his shoulders and lower back that he decides to move. He gathers his things and walks down the hallway to the exit. Hakyeon stretches his hands up to the sky as he steps out of the annex.

He’s at Kimbap Heaven in no time, placing his order to go and waiting at one of the tables for the lady to roll him his tuna kimbap. Hakyeon’s phone battery is dying, so he can’t play a game while he waits. Instead, he lets his mind wander. First, he’s thinking about performances, essays and deadlines he has to make. Then his thoughts shift to work, wondering if it will be crowded Wednesday. Will Dimples be there Wednesday, too? Was Dimples at the shop today, while he wasn’t? Did Dimples eat enough during his absence?

His tuna kimbap gets handed to him, so he stands up. While he walks to the subway station and eats, he wonders if Dimples likes tuna kimbap too.

On his subway ride to his apartment, he starts mentally planning the essay he needs to write. He doesn’t have a lot of spare time before the deadline, so most of the work will have to be done like this until he can sit down and actually get his thoughts on paper within like two hours. He jots down some notes in his phone, afraid he’ll forget if he doesn’t.

His Tuesday flies by in a hectic, stressful blur, and before he knows it his alarm goes off to signal the start of Wednesday. He’s at the coffee shop in 45 minutes, struggling with the lock until it clicks open. Approximately an hour after he’s opened the shop and started preparations for all the sandwiches and pastries they sell, the first customer enters, orders a coffee to go and leaves again.

Until lunch time, Hakyeon busies himself with food preparation and more essay planning. When it’s about 11:30, the first students enter to get something to eat. At 12:30 the shop is so crowded that there are no seats left. (And there’s no sign of Dimples). 2 o’clock rolls around and most of the students have left to go to their classes, though a couple students have taken a seat to work on projects here.

Hakyeon finally has time to eat. He just settles for one of the sandwiches he’d prepared before, because it’s easy, and there’s a chance he might have to throw it out if it doesn’t get eaten by the end of the day. Hakyeon doesn’t approve of that, but it’s policy. Sometimes he sneaks things home, just so he can eat it that night, or the day after. Sanghyuk has gotten his fair share of free sandwiches as well, since they have so many classes together and he _always_ forgets to eat lunch if Hakyeon doesn’t help remind him.

Time passes slowly. With every ring of the bell, Hakyeon looks up to the door in hopes to see Dimples enter, but he doesn’t. After sending two girls away who were watching a movie together at one of the more comfortable booths, he gathers the leftover sandwiches (five of them in total) and closes the shop.

During his 8 am class on Thursday, Hakyeon feels like death. He barely slept the night before. He’d even eaten one of the sandwiches as breakfast, in fear that he’d be late if he made fried rice as usual. Instead of taking notes, he’s just swirling his pen over the paper to keep his hands occupied while he listens to the professor drone on about the _expression_ of one of their favourite ballet dancers. Usually Hakyeon really enjoys their lectures, but today just doesn’t seem to be his day.

When the class ends, Hakyeon gathers his things and heads to the library. He has another class at 3 o’clock, so it’s best to spend his time writing that damned essay for Professor Chwe. At around lunch time, Sanghyuk and his boyfriend Jaehwan enter the library and take a seat on either side of Hakyeon.

“Our sandwiches?” Sanghyuk asks in a hushed voice, holding up his hands.

Hakyeon glares at him. “Can’t you be at least a _little_ more polite? And pretend you’re not just here for the free food?” He hands Sanghyuk and Jaehwan a sandwich each.

“Thanks, hyung.” Jaehwan grins his impossibly bright grin at him and Hakyeon waves it away.

“We’ll get going again.” Sangyhyuk declares, “Jaehwan-hyung has a song he’s been working on with Wonshik-hyung. He wants me to hear it.”

Hakyeon smiles while they get up: “Have fun, you guys.”

“See ya!” Jaehwan nearly shouts through the library. He immediately gets shushed by a group of students sitting nearby.

It’s only then that Hakyeon spots him. Dimples. He’s seated a couple of tables away. Hakyeon notices him because he also looked up thanks to Jaehwan’s noise pollution in the quiet library.

Their eyes meet. Hakyeon feels his cheeks flush and quickly looks back to his half-written essay. (Why did he look away? He hadn’t even been staring!) Hakyeon gingerly places his hands over his warm face. (And why is he blushing?) He takes a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself.

This essay needs to be as good as done before he’ll allow himself to eat his own sandwich. And then he still has one sandwich left. Hakyeon’s eyes wander to Dimples, who went back to reading his book, and linger for a few seconds. He wonders if Dimples has eaten lunch yet. (He probably hasn’t). Maybe his last sandwich could go to him?

But first this. Hakyeon squares his shoulders, looking at his essay with a newfound determination. He manages to get approximately 1.400 words on paper before he sees Dimples stand up and head into the hallway, leaving his stuff behind on the desk.

Now’s as good a time (if not the best) as any. So Hakyeon takes out the sandwich and jogs to Dimples’ books, resting it on top. He’s about to walk back when he realizes that Dimples might feel bad for eating something when he’s not sure if it’s meant for him. So he scribbles a quick note on the paper wrapping before hurrying back to his seat: [I had this left over. Enjoy!]

Once he’s back at his seat, he manages to finish writing a pretty decent paper. When he looks up from his work after approximately two hours, Dimples seems to have returned and left again, because his things are gone, and so is the sandwich. Hakyeon gasps as he checks the time (he has seven minutes to get to class!), gathers his stuff and rushes out of the library.

 

At a little before 8 am on Friday, Hakyeon struggles with unlocking the coffee shop again. That stupid lock has gotten old. Just as he’s finished setting up the display for the morning, Dimples enters.

“Good morning!” Hakyeon beams at his favourite patron.

“Morning.” Dimples says, “One black coffee, please. And uh...” He scratches the back of his neck, eyes darting around to look at anything but Hakyeon. “Thanks, for yesterday. I enjoyed the sandwich.”

“How did you—”

“I recognized the paper wrapping. And you’re the only one who feeds me when I forget. But you really don’t have to do that. I wouldn’t know how to repay you for all the food you’ve given me.”

“Why don’t you pay me back by telling me your name?” Hakyeon suggests with a smile.

“Hongbin.” Dimples replies, “I’m Lee Hongbin.”

“Cha Hakyeon.” Hakyeon says, his smile broadening. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Hongbin-ssi.”

“Yeah.” Hongbin laughs awkwardly and Hakyeon is happy that the dimples appear again.

“Ah, your coffee. I should get started on that. Do you plan to stay a while again today? Why don’t you check out some of the food? I’ll get you what you want for lunch.” Hakyeon turns around to make Hongbin his coffee.

In the weeks that follow, Hakyeon gets a better idea of what foods Hongbin likes. Not soon after, Hakyeon lingers near places on campus where he knows Hongbin will be. Today, he’s leaning against the wall near one of the lecture halls where Hongbin’s Film and Literature class is being held. He has two coffees and croissants with him.

When Hongbin exits the lecture hall, he smiles at Hakyeon, walking over immediately and taking a coffee and croissant from him. “You’re a life saver.”

“I’m glad I can help.” Hakyeon grins back.

They start walking. Hongbin takes a bite of the croissant and hums in appreciation.

“What’s your next class?”

“Video production.” He says around the food.

“Cool!” Hakyeon takes a sip from his coffee, before he asks: “What are you working on right now?”

Hongbin swallow his bite. “A short documentary. It’s actually really boring. I can’t wait until we get to decide our projects more freely.”

“What would you want to make?”

“Uh...” Hongbin ponders that question. “Maybe a short narrative film? I’d also like to try something more artsy and less cut and dry. Maybe take some inspiration from other art forms and adapt that to film.”

“That sounds great. I hope you get to do that.”

“What about you, hyung?” Hongbin asks as they round a corner.

“Well, I focus a lot on modern dance, and even though there are plenty other dance styles I want to try, I still have some concept ideas for modern too. And I was thinking of taking some acting classes as an elective. I don’t think I want to do musical theatre, like Jaehwan and Taekwoon, but I’ve always been interested in acting, too.”

“You know Taekwoon-hyung?”

“Yes, he's my best friend. I haven't seen him in a while, because we're both quite busy, but...”

“Do you know his boyfriend, Kim Wonshik?”

“I've met him twice, but haven't really gotten the chance to have an actual conversation with him. Why?”

“Wonshik and I are roommates, we've been friends since kindergarten.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Hongbin laughs, “Who knew we had some friends in common.”

They arrive at Hongbin's classroom and toss their trash in a nearby bin.

“See you tomorrow?” Hakyeon asks.

Hongbin nods, “See you tomorrow.”

They meet almost daily, with Hakyeon walking Hongbin to his next class whenever he has the time. If Hakyeon has to work, Hongbin will visit.

“So I asked Wonshik about you.” Hongbin says as he leans against the display, trying to figure out what they'll have for dessert. The coffee shop is almost empty, with only one table taken by two girls who seem to be on their first date (and it looks like it's going well).

“And?” Hakyeon presses.

“He says you're intimidating.”

“I am not!”

“I mean, you kind of are...” Hongbin laughs at the face Hakyeon pulls. “Once he gets to know you, he'll probably change his mind, but I get what he means.”

“You think I'm intimidating too?”

“Only a little. Only occasionally.” Hongbin assures him. The younger man jumps away as Hakyeon tries to hit his shoulder.

“Come here.” Hakyeon scowls.

Hongbin snickers, “This is exactly--” He jogs further away as Hakyeon comes out from behind the counter, “what I'm talking about, hyung.”

“Come. Here.” Hakyeon repeats before chasing Hongbin around the coffee shop for a while, trying to catch him and punish him in one way or another.

After about ten minutes of them running around, Hakyeon gives up and returns to the counter. Hongbin follows tentatively.

“But you see what I mean.” The film and media major says with a grin.

Hakyeon sends him a glare.

 

A couple of days after that incident, Hakyeon is sitting on Taekwoon's couch, a film playing on the TV which has been long forgotten by both of them and is reduced to background noise during their conversation.

“So you're telling me that you're the guy who's been feeding Wonshik's roommate?” Taekwoon asks incredulously.

“Yeah, I've always got some sandwiches or snacks in my bag for if I happen to see him, and we meet up like three times a week to have lunch or dinner together.”

“And this has been going on for how long exactly?”

“A little over a month?” Hakyeon guesses, “No, actually, almost two months now, I think.”

“And it wasn't until last week that you figured out you both know me and Wonshik?”

“Yeah, I mentioned musical theatre and you, and then he connected the dots.”

Taekwoon blinks at him.

“Don't give me that look.” Hakyeon says, “We've just been hanging out. It's nothing serious.”

“And you don't want it to be serious?” Taekwoon asks with a knowing smile.

“I mean...” Hakyeon shrugs his shoulders, “I wouldn’t _mind_. But I think I have to go. I reserved a practice room for tomorrow morning, and I need to get some semblance of sleep before that.”

“When’s your performance again?”

“At the showcase in two weeks.”

In those weeks leading up to Hakyeon’s showcase performance, the roles are reversed: Hongbin stops by the practice rooms every single day to sit on the floor with Hakyeon and make sure he drinks enough water and eats some lunch.

Hakyeon enjoys the familiar ache in his muscles while he’s performing his choreography for himself. He only has a couple more days to perfect his routine. His phone is perched on a table so he can record himself as he dances. Just as he walks to the stereo to turn off the music, he hears a knock on the door. He turns around to spot Hongbin peeking into the room.

“Hey hyung, ready for your break?” He asks.

A tired smile crosses Hakyeon’s lips. “Obviously.”

Hongbin enters, closing the door behind him. He takes a seat on the floor and starts unpacking the lunch boxes he’d brought along.

“What’s this?” Hakyeon asks as he sits down opposite of Hongbin. “You don’t normally bring homemade food.”

“My grandma came to visit. She packed up my entire fridge. I figured I could share her amazing cooking with you.” Hongbin hands him chopsticks and they both dig in.

Once they finish eating the large amount of food Hongbin had brought, they lie on the floor, staring up at the ceiling like Hakyeon had done months ago on his own. Hakyeon reaches over to rest his hand on Hongbin’s. “Thank you for this.”

“I’m only paying you back.”

Hakyeon pouts. “So you’re gonna stop doing this when you decide we’re even?”

“I don’t think we’ll ever be even.” Hongbin replies with a smile, turning his hand around to hold Hakyeon’s.

“Good.”

“That’s what I thought.”


End file.
